Honey-glazed pears

Photos by Gregor Richardson.
Photos by Gregor Richardson.

Daniel Pfyl, hospitality management lecturer at Otago Polytechnic, shares some professional techniques to make your cooking easier.

Honey-glazed pears
Serves 4

 

Ingredients

2 Tbsp lemon juice
250ml water
4 pears
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp macadamia nuts (or walnuts, almonds or hazelnuts)
20ml pear schnapps (or Grand Marnier or brandy)
3 Tbsp honey or any light-coloured jam or jelly or quince paste
1 cinnamon stick

 

Method

Squeeze the lemon juice into the water. 

Peel the pears and cut in half lengthwise. You can leave on the stalks if you wish. Use a melon baller or teaspoon to remove the core, and a sharp knife to remove the thread-like stem.

Put the pear halves in the lemon water to prevent them browning.

Chop the nuts roughly.

Heat the butter in a pan, remove pears from the water and dry on a paper towel.

Keep the water. Cook the pears in the butter on both sides until just starting to change colour.

Add the nuts, and the honey or jam and turn over the pears again.

Then add about half the lemon water and cinnamon stick.

Cover with a cartouche, (see slideshow) This allows more evaporation than a lid but less than if the pan was uncovered and prevents the top of the pears drying out.

Let it simmer, turning the pears over again. If there seems too much juice, remove the cartouche and let it evaporate.

Cook the pears until they are soft and melting. Serve with yoghurt or ice cream.

You can also garnish with toasted coconut.

 

To make a cartouche

Fold a square of paper in half diagonally, and then half again, and again until you have a long thin triangle.

Hold the point in the centre of the pan and tear or cut where the triangle meets the edge of the pot. When you open it out you should have a circle about the size of the pot.

 


If you would like to request a particular technique we haven't already shown, please let us know. Write to Cooking 101, Editorial Features, Otago Daily Times, PO Box 181, Dunedin or email odt.features@odt.co.nz with cooking 101 in the subject line.

To check earlier Cooking 101 columns visit: www.odt.co.nz and search for "cooking 101". More information on cooking from Otago Polytechnic can be found at www.otagocookeryl4.blogspot.com.


 

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